


Café au Lait

by withcoffeespoons



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-06-02 23:26:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6587434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withcoffeespoons/pseuds/withcoffeespoons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barista Ryan takes objection to Gavin's utilitarian attitude toward coffee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Café au Lait

Gavin mumbled his name. Ryan couldn’t stand it when people did that—that was how Christine got a cup that said “Kristin” and Grover, much to Ryan’s embarrassment, got one that said “Rover.”

Ryan stared through Gavin’s English accent and the muttered syllable and a half of his name, forcing back venom. Gavin repeated himself, slower, louder, and with greater enunciation, “GAV-in.”

Ryan smiled his gratitude, all customer service, and lightly remarked, “Coming right up,” like an NPC in an Elder Scrolls game.

Coffee. Black. It couldn’t have been a simpler order, but when Gavin took the first sip, his face twitched into a barely tolerant cringe.

“What?” Ryan asked, his service industry smile fading before he could stop it. “Is it cold? Too weak?” The brewer was notorious for dumping a splash of water into the pots every twenty minutes or so. Ryan suspected it was a feature to ensure he was changing the pots out.

Gavin shook his head and took another sour sip. “It’s fine,” he said, clearly lying through his grimaced teeth.

“What’s with the look, then?”

“Well it’s coffee, innit?”

“Yeah,” Ryan drew out, curious where this was going.

“It’s not supposed to taste good. Like beer.”

“You lost me,” Ryan admitted. The line was gone, but he had duties. He needed to stock the cooler, brew the coffee, rotate the cookies in the case. But he was a lot more interested in the crinkle of Gavin’s nose.

“Well, you drink beer to get drunk, right? Not because it tastes good. And you drink coffee for the caffeine. Same thing.”

Ryan was aware he was staring. “Oh my god, give me that,” he said, holding his hand out for the cup in Gavin’s hand. Gavin blinked in confusion, and with only a slight hesitation, handed it over.

Ryan automatically reached for the cream before pausing to really look at Gavin.

His hair was wild, but not unintentionally so; there was product in there, so attentive, but not high-maintenance. He had shadows under his eyes, but no bags, and his eyes weren’t bloodshot; he wasn’t looking for an extra shot.

Ryan reached for the steamer pots and splashed some milk into the tin. “Sweet or fruity?” he called over the steamer.

Gavin looked nervously perplexed, like there was a wrong answer. “Erm, fruity?”

Ryan pulled the blueberry flavoring from the shelf above the espresso machine and poured in a bit more than he strictly needed to. He topped it off with a heavy dollop of foam and just enough milk to turn the black coffee into a warm brown. It was too sweet for Ryan, but he had his suspicions about Gavin. “Here,” he said like a challenge.

Gavin hesitated, but eventually drew the coffee to his mouth. His eyes popped wide, a warm green in the early morning sun. “What—” Ryan felt a thrill of pride rush through him at Gavin’s pleased tone.

“Blueberry café au lait with foam,” he explained. “A little light on the milk, heavy on the foam—and the blueberry.” He smiled. “Good?”

Gavin nodded vigorously. “How much—?”

Ryan waved him off. “On the house. The least I could do for someone with a _utilitarian_ attitude toward coffee.”

Gavin may have blushed a little at that. Ryan tried not to notice. The younger man cleared his throat, then swallowed a massive amount of foam, eliciting a repetition. “Maybe, er, if you’re free tonight, you could erm, do this,” he said, gesturing to the cup, “but with beer?”

He was asking him out. Gavin was asking Ryan out. _For a beer_. Ryan had to stop himself from hastily blurting an enthusiastic yes, he hadn’t been asked out in so long. He cleared his own throat. “Yeah, sounds good,” he said, his voice cracking like a teenager’s. “I get out of here at 3.” He reached again for Gavin’s cup, noting with some pride that Gavin hesitated longer, before letting him have it. Ryan scribbled 7 digits on the cup beneath Gavin’s name. “Call me.”

As he walked out of the shop, Gavin held the coffee against his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written and posted on Tumblr September 24, 2014.


End file.
